"The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism — ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. ”
— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Friday, May 27, 2005

It's time to stop defending the indefensible

Yes, everyone is innocent until proven guilty; that's an American belief that everyone but Nancy Grace seems to understand.

However, after attempting to digest what happened here and in Nashville over the last 36 hours, I have one question for the folks who were indicted, some of whom I have worked side by side with in Democratic Party circles for years:

WHAT THE BLOODY HELL WERE YOU THINKING?

Even IF you are acquitted, how could you have allowed yourselves (and the CITY and the PARTY) to be put in a position like this? There is no recovery from this, and I'm sure you know this. The indictments paint a sordid tale of hands being stuck out everywhere.

It is damned impossible to regain the trust of the public to manage even the simplest of programs, much less anything far-sighted and far-reaching, when the impression is given that we can't even pass a bill without asking to get paid.

Harsh? You're damned right it is. Unforgiving? Maybe. However, it's time to stop defending the indefensible. I hope against hope that this will be a mistake, and that the charges will be dropped, but I'm sure as hell not betting the rent on it.

The only public figure who gets a thumbs-up from me today is AC Wharton, who demanded (and received) Roscoe Dixon's resignation. AC clearly understands that if you are going to keep the public trust, you cannot even allow the APPEARANCE of wrongdoing.

And on this day when many of us who are Shelby County Democrats face the shame and humiliation of an entire state, we at least know one Democrat who gets it right.

I know I'll get nasty emails and be accused of throwing my friends under the bus, but I know better; they JUMPED, willingly.

6 comments:

I must disagree; Ford's been such a loose cannon for so long that I can't see his actions reflecting on the Democratic party at all. The Ford "big fish small pond" mentality wil backfire on him; he's spent so much time alienating others that no one will want to speak up for him now that he's down.

Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to me that getting him out of commission (and council, ha ha) can only be a good thing for the Dems.

arresting crooked politicians is a good thing in that it goes a long way in restoring in the voters a faith in government. part of the problem in getting anything done government-wise is the nagging suspicion by many constituents that they're being fleeced by a bunch of crooks. to get rid of a politician who was taking bribes, threatening to kill people, and who lives at one house with one wife/girlfriend and kids on some days, and another with another wife/girlfriend (with neither house being in the district he represented) on others, is a good thing for the democratic party, who's dedicated members do not deserve being used and abused by these back stabbing jerks. the WHO song "won't get fooled again" somehow comes to mind...hopefully the "new boss" won't be the same as the old boss!

Anonymous: "part of the problem in getting anything done government-wise is the nagging suspicion by many constituents that they're being fleeced by a bunch of crooks."

True, but in this city you can replace "nagging suspicion" with "brutal certainty." While I'm overjoyed to see JoFo publicly humiliated during pausing in the courtroom on his way to jail, I don't believe for one moment that everything's going to be on the up-and-up now that he's gone. We're still getting screwed; watching Ford go down is a bit like poking through the burned-out rubble of your house and finding out that one of your favorite t-shirts miraculously survived.